© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

U.S. Women's Hockey Team Will Face Canada In Gold Medal Game At Winter Olympics

Gigi Marvin of the U.S., rear right, celebrates her goal in the first period of the women's semifinal match against Finland on Sunday. The victory sends the Americans to the gold medal match at the Pyeonghang Winter Olympics
Brian Snyder
/
Reuters
Gigi Marvin of the U.S., rear right, celebrates her goal in the first period of the women's semifinal match against Finland on Sunday. The victory sends the Americans to the gold medal match at the Pyeonghang Winter Olympics

Updated at 9:45 a.m. ET

The U.S. women's ice hockey team dismantled Finland in their semifinals matchup at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Monday, scoring goals early and often and claiming a spot in the gold medal game, where they will face Canada.

The U.S. team scored two goals in each of the first two periods; a pair of scores came in less than one minute in the second period.

Gigi Marvin set the tone just minutes into the game, scoring on assists from Meghan Duggan and Amanda Pelkey. Near the end of the first period, Dani Cameranesi scored unassisted — the first of her two goals today.

From there, the rout was on, with Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scoring while the U.S. enjoyed a two-player advantage during a power play, and Hilary Knight adding another goal just 34 seconds later, during a one-player power play. It was the first goal of the tournament for Knight, a forward who's one of the best American players; she had previously assisted on goals.

The U.S. controlled play throughout, taking 38 shots to 14 for Finland.

The Americans will play in the gold medal game, which will air live in the U.S. on Wednesday night. In Korea, the final will start at 1:10 p.m. on Thursday — that's 11:10 p.m. ET and 8:10 PT Wednesday night in the U.S.

With the win, the U.S. set up another showdown with Canada, the winners of every Olympic gold medal since the U.S. won the first women's tournament back in 1998. The rivals have repeatedly faced off to decide Olympic and world championships over the past 20 years.

Canada defeated the U.S. 2-1 last Thursday in group play, and the team earned the right to face the U.S. again when they beat the Olympic Athletes from Russia team in Monday's later game. The Canadians even posted the same score as the U.S. did in its win: 5-0.

The team from Russia will face Finland in the bronze medal match this week.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.